THE drama continues over the fate of Engozi Henry, the 12- year-old girl, who was up to Saturday afternoon left at the home of reputed ‘spiritual healer’ Pamela Alves, also known as Patricia Gonsalves.

Alves is now in Police custody following the discovery of the body of a young woman in a shallow grave in the backyard of her Second Street, Alberttown residence Friday.

Relatives of the girl, who is ill and malnourished, are battling various forces to rescue her, but there are concerns about whose custody she’s in at this time. The child, who is suffering with a swollen knee, is said to have been taken away from the spiritual healer’s home yesterday.

The ‘Chronicle’ understands Alves told the Police that the girl is her adopted daughter. However, Mr Orin Soloman, who claimed to be the child’s stepfather, told this newspaper yesterday that Engozi lived in his home for the past ten years even after he and her mother, Cheryl Henry, who was his reputed wife, had separated.

Soloman said that Cheryl Henry went to his East Ruimveldt home mid-December last year and collected the child saying that she was taking Engozi to spend the Christmas holidays at a ‘sister’ of a church she attended. Cheryl promised to bring the child after the holidays.

“Engozi never come back home. I meet the mother and ask her if the child is not going back to school and she told me she did not have uniform for her”. He said, however, that money was not a problem to buy the child’s necessities for her to attend school.

Soloman said he learnt that when Cheryl came out of Alves’ yard after taking Engozi there in December, she, Cheryl was “not herself”. He said they had later made several efforts to bring away the child from Alves’ home, but they never succeeded in doing so.

“I believe like something pulling back the girl when we go to bring she away. Something controlling her spiritually.”

Soloman said he learnt about the child’s plight when he saw her appear on television Friday evening following the incident. Since then he has been making unsuccessful efforts to find out about her present situation.

The ‘Chronicle’ learnt that Engozi’s mother went to Alves’ home yesterday afternoon in an effort to collect her daughter. She was reportedly told by a man with burns on his face, and a church ‘sister’ that she would not be allowed to take away the child.

Soloman said he heard from the neighbours that after Cheryl Henry insisted that she must have her child and began banging the gate to Alves’ yard with a piece of wood, the Police were called. They later asked her to leave.

Residents said that after Engozi’s mother had left the area, a woman dressed in an orange outfit and wearing a turban went into Alves’ home around 17:00 hrs and took the girl away. The woman was said to have been accompanied by a tall man.

After hearing that the child had been taken away, the stepfather Soloman left to carry out a fruitless search of the Georgetown Hospital. He had hoped that Engozi had been taken away for medical attention.

“I went all over the hospital. I checked upstairs, downstairs and I asked the nurses if they had seen the child. But nobody seems to know any thing about Engozi. So I made a report to the Police,” Soloman said.

The man vowed to continue in his efforts to ensure that the child is returned to his home or is placed at an institution where she could be taken care of.